Actually its a couple of questions and not about wierd eggs but a wierd question about eggs.

We've got one hen who lays HUGE eggs. No eggsageration, one was 3 1/2" long and about 2 1/2' in diameter. They're almost always double yolkers. What if they were fertilized(They probably are) and hatched?----Twins outta one egg?

On the other side of the spectrum, when they first started laying, I found one, perfectly formed egg that was tiny---about 5/8" long. What if that one was fertile and hatched? Would I have a chick 1/2" tall? Mini Buff Orpingtons?

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

Answers

John, double yolkers are much more common with first year layers. They settle down to regular eggs after a while. Don't know about the fertility, the yolk is not the chick, but is the chick's food. The miniature eggs don't have yolks, and usually come from chickens that end up poor layers.

-- Anonymous, June 15, 2001

I was told that the double yokers don't hatch and that the mini eggs are what was left of the chicken's cycle, not enough to make a big egg.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001

I got Buffs too, John, and sometimes get the huge eggs too, as well as the little tiny ones, but the whoppers are more common. They don't even fit in an egg carton!

I have had chickens for almost ten years now, and get these oddball eggs from all breeds at one time or another. Nature's diversity!

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001

Friends of mine had Banties that laid a very tiny egg and it did hatch, but the chick died within a day. They said that it didn't really look quite right either.

On the other hand, I have heard of one double yolked egg that did hatch out into twins. It was a canary's egg, and the only way that the breeder figured out what had happened was that there had been 4 eggs in the nest, and there were 5 hatchlings. They were smaller than the others were, but both survived and grew up. I never did hear if they ever bred or if twinning became common to their line, because the magazine it was in was bought out by another company and discontinued. The breeder said however, that the two twins acted in tandem on many things, including driving other birds off of the feeder so they could eat first. Seems like that would be a handy trait to assist them in living long enough to pass on their genes.

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001

That is facinating julie.

Never heard of a double yoker hatching,till now. That twin connection is really interesting too. Read each others minds ;O) Hmmm..guess that is more plausible then some hard scientists think. Ya think?

John

Odd eggs happen and rarely result in viable offspring,but apparently can at times.Mom would cull them,of course.

Did you get your egg laying time down? Mom told me she kept them in till noon,or she said you could provide artificial light in the early am if you need to let them out sooner. Forgot to pass that on till you posted this and reminded me.

Did you get the Chicken Transfer Project worked out,too?

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001

I have had chickens all my life and different breeds also, we always have double yokers. I acually tried putting one under a setting hen and it did not hatch. I wondered the same thing, would it be twins? I have gotten double yokers from white rocks, rhode island reds and buff orphingtons. My children think they are neat, but the sure don't fit in the carton. Phyllis

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001

When I lived in Pakistan, an eggseller there commented about how he hated when people complained about the eggs being too small -- he called the big eggs "murghi-parhd", which translates to "chicken-busters"!

-- Anonymous, June 16, 2001